B&P Sweet Studio

Eat at your heart out Willy Wonka. The very clever and talented Darren Purchese and Ian Burch are the masterminds behind this most incredible sweet studio/shop - B&P Sweet Studio. If they weren't such nice people I could possibly hate them for introducing me to a world of such temptation and potential over-indulgence. Not that I need much of a push in that direction - ever... 

Chocolate joy including these gold bars above ( thin chocolate casing houses a luxurious salted caramel in packets of three) is the perfect little gift to pick up for a friend (including yourself) but don't feel you have to stop there. The half and half jars of salted caramel and hazelnut chocolate spread or chocolate and strawberry jam or passionfruit curd would also do just as nicely as a small "hostess" gift or a 'just because' pressie...

 You probably won't be able to resist the beautifully packaged chocolate bars such as the toasted macadamia in caramelised white chocolate ( yeah I said caramelised chocolate - sensational! and not as sweet as you might expect - this is my favourite so far but I am yet to work my way through), the Persian Delight in dark Chocolate, the mint white chocolate, the spiced almond in milk chocolate, raspberry milk chocolate or perhaps the fruit salad chocolate... 

Of course if you are more in the market for some edible chocolate art you might like to commission an installation like these pretty flowers....

What you will notice as soon as you enter the store is the large glass cabinet on your left - brimming with the most divine cakes/desserts - my tip is to get in early if you want access to the full selection - they are  currently being slammed on a daily basis!

Finding it difficult to successfully select a mere few to take home I enlisted the help of chef Cath Claringbold, Darren's other half who shared that her current favourite was the "smoked white chocolate, coffee, aniseed, lemon"  finely layered with smoked white chocolate cream/ crunchy almond meringue/coffee buttercream/coffee sponge/aniseed syrup/brownie sponge/lemon curd/dehydrated choc rock   - sound good? It was. The combination of flavours and textures were both clever and balanced with no strong overtones of a particular ingredient - which one might expect reading the list of components - it just really worked.  

I couldn't resist the 'roast pumpkin, milk chocolate, maple syrup, bacon'  - a clear cylinder containing olive oil and pumpkin seed cake/spiced choc cream/milk, bacon and pecan crumble/ maple syrup jelly/pumpkin mayonnaise/candied pumpkin seeds/milk choc mousse - ah HELLO! this was an explosion of flavour - layers of spice, earthy depth and subtle sweetness that seemed to morph with each bite - like the famous wonka gum that changes flavours the longer you chew - only in a really GOOD way!! no turkey roast to blueberry pie for me thanks.  So clever. 

But... my favourite was 'violet, white choc, lemon, toasted pinenut' - a cloud of delight. There was much talk about Violet essence when I was in the store as the boys, and a friend who was with me,  are very keen on it   - so perhaps that influenced my choice - I'm not sure. But bloody hell - what a choice. Smooth, creamy, delicate yet pronounced in flavour. There were angels singing. It consisted of the following: Queen mother's lemon shortbread/violet pastry cream/toasted pinenut butter/white chocolate and vanilla mousse/lemon curd/chocolate and violet wafer/white chocolate velvet spray/crystalised lemon. OMG.

Sadly I ate them before I could photograph them.... but if you look very carefully below you will see, immediately to the left of the round pink cakes, a finger of layers (that's the first item I mentioned), the cylinders next to it are the roast pumpkin/choc number and just peeking at you on the far left are the cream coloured violet wonders!

I didn't try them this trip but the ice cream flavours sounded amazing ... since sometime in the late 80's I have been a fan of lavender ice cream but it seems I might be on the turn to violet .... "violet and honeycomb crumble" ice cream anyone? or Very Vanilla (dark with real vanilla) or Butterscotch popcorn?? Yes please. Perhaps a palate refreshing Cucumber and lime sorbet for afters....

There are a number of fabulous additions (which seem destined to grow in range) for pimping up your own sweet concoctions - like the crumbles /clays, (edible soil type numbers as per image directly below - green tea and white chocolate "clay", crunchy coffee crumble, salted oat and ginger crumble),   tiny discs of brownie or biscuit,  honeycomb, or even chocolate flower lollipops - like those that decorate the cakes in the two pics that follow this -

Speaking of cakes - bespoke flavours/designs are a signature of B&P - so if you are looking for something unique - arrange an appointment and sniff your way through sample aromas... God, I sound like a spruiker!!  They have no idea I am posting this and I'm not on the payroll but I do know the boys and respect their work and highly recommend their wares. I suspect there might be some classes in the future so keep an eye out for them. 

Darren and Ian's appearances on Masterchef, The circle and the like have meant that stock is flying off the shelves even more quickly than usual but they are working hard to keep up with demand. As I said above - go early! In fact -go now!!!! And give them all a big hug from me. Well not like in a stalkerish way but you know.... respectfully...